The nation's largest gay Republican group is calling on Democratic U.S. Rep. Scott Peters to remove and apologize for an opinion piece on his campaign website that refers to his opponent as a "Mary."

The Slang Dictionary defines "Mary" as "a male who behaves like a stereotypical little girl when scared or hurt." It also gets used as a term for a gay male.

Peters’ GOP opponent is Carl DeMaio, who is openly gay.

Peters did not write the opinion piece, which was originally posted on the liberal AmericaBlog.

Log Cabin Republicans, in calling for an apology from the congressman, said the piece "contained false and grossly distorted claims about DeMaio's record on LGBT issues."

Said LCR executive director Gregory T. Angelo, "There is no doubt that if the roles were reversed and a straight Republican congressman promoted content on his website calling his gay Democratic opponent a 'Mary' there would be no end to the outrage from the left."

Angelo also said, "Of course, when a Democrat does it, no one raises an eyebrow — but we're not going to let this side."

LCR, in a news release, said Peters was a co-sponsor of an anti-bullying measure but that he is campaigning like a bully.

The blog post contained a quote from DeMaio about finding more social conservatives to be more tolerant of a gay Republican than gay people. After the quote, blogger John Aravosis, said, "Oh Mary, it's so hard to be you."

Angelo said, “Congressman Peters needs to remove this story from his website at once, and issue a formal apology to Mr. DeMaio. If not, he needs to stand by the language he is promoting and tell voters in California’s 52nd District if he believes all gay men are ‘Marys.’”